Powerful Rangers up next for Hounds
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
They’re in the midst of arguably their most-challenging stretch this season.
After facing London on Sunday – the Knights have been the top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League for nine straight weeks – the Soo Greyhounds are slated to take on the Kitchener Rangers on Wednesday (7:07 p.m. at GFL Memorial Gardens).
With 70 points (33-9-3-1), the Rangers are No. 2 in the OHL’s overall standings, five points back of London (37-7-1-0).
On Friday, the Brantford Bulldogs (26-16-4-0), winners of eight of their last 10 and just four points out of the Eastern Conference lead, will be in town.
The Knights controlled the final 30 minutes on Sunday, scoring five straight goals to overcome the Hounds 2-1 lead.
London was a 7-3 winner, dropping the Soo to 19-25-1-0.
But the Greyhounds, who were very impressive for the first 30 minutes against the Knights, believe they’ve taken valuable lessons from Sunday’s setback.
“We had a great start to the game and a great first period against the best team in the CHL. We’re proud of that,” said rookie centre Brady R. (Robert) Smith, taken by the Soo in the fifth round (No. 85 overall) of the 2023 Priority Selections draft. “But we let the game get away from us.”
Two things have become obvious to the young Greyhounds.
No. 1, you can’t make mistakes against elite teams.
And, No. 2, elite teams don’t make many mistakes.
“You have to be dialed in for the whole game. That’s always important, but definitely more important against the better teams,” Smith added.
And Kitchener is surely one of the better teams.
“They’re great in the O-zone, good in transition and they’re a good entry team,” said second-year defenceman Spencer Evans. “They’re older and they’re built to go for it this year. We’re going to have to be sharp.”
How do they accomplish that?
Well, head coach John Dean has long stressed consistency.
As the London game showed, 30 minutes of strong hockey is far from enough.
“When you take a break against the top-end teams, they’re going to make you pay,” said Dean. “And London made us pay.”
But, the coach added, back-to-back games against OHL powerhouses provides an opportunity to learn.
From London, “we saw the killer instinct that it takes to be a winning hockey club. We’ll hit the reset button, learn from our mistakes and get after it.”
Smith, a six-foot, 180-pounder, spoke of the importance of being smart with the puck.
“Make lots of refuse-to-lose plays,” and not as many “hope plays,” he added.
An example of a refuse-to-lose play would be dumping the puck in and using speed to retrieve it, rather than making a play at the opposition blue-line you hope will pay dividends.
“Those good teams limit their mistakes,” added Evans, a six-foot-one, 190-pounder. “They buy into the same thing, they’re all on the same page and tugging the same line. No one goes off script.”
It’s an approach the Greyhounds continue to chase.
“But we’re taking good steps towards that,” Evans said. “We’re going to get there.”
“And you have to play every game as if it’s your last,” Smith added.
Following Friday’s clash with Brantford, the Hounds are slated to visit Saginaw on Sunday (5:30 p.m.).
